Artist Compensation

3. The Future of Music Coalition note that they were consulted as fact checkers on this article. The Future of Music Coalition has since declared “NYT Magazine chose to publish without substantive change most of the things that we told them were either: a) not accurate or b) not verifiable because there is no industry consensus and the “facts” could really go either way.” Why then did they publish the article when the fact checkers were telling them that something was wrong. THISALONEREQUIRESTHEPUBLICEDITORTOINVESTIGATETHISINCIDENT.

You won’t find expert witnesses like that in “The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t.” In fact, exactly three people are quoted in Johnson’s piece: Lars Ulrich, Steve Albini, and, um, me. He doesn’t talk to people who are living and working in the film, music, and publishing industries; he tries to tell his story with only numbers, and numbers simply don’t tell the whole story.

On Friday, the Future of Music Coalition, a musicians’ advocacy group, published a blog post taking issue with some of the arguments and data from my Aug. 23 cover story in the magazine, “The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t.” I take their comments very seriously for several reasons: First, their concerns — that musicians be appropriately compensated in this digital age — are my concerns. Second, they have assembled some important studies of the new economics emerging in the music business, many of which I drew upon in writing the article.

The day will begin with a panel presentation of professional women including Candice Jones, Talent Buyer at the Black Cat, Jenny Poppen, Entertainment Specialist and Music Manager, Rachel Levitin, Musician and Journalist and Ann Chaitovitz, Entertainment Attorney and former Executive Director of the Future of Music Coalition. The panel will discuss the present music industry landscape and will answer questions from the audience.

“Music always was a hustle,” says Casey Rae, CEO of the nonprofit Future of Music Coalition. “The terrifying moment about this modern economy is you’ve got so many variables now to keep track of, but the flip side is there are so many more things now under your control.

“There are all kinds of ways now to fund music projects and get stuff off the ground that don’t necessarily have to conform to a traditional way of doing business. It depends on where you are in the industry and at what stage of your career, but the real top line takeaway here is you have to make use of a diverse set of revenue streams across multiple venues and platforms. It’s not any one thing.” read more

A New York Times feature by journalist Steven Johnson titled ‘The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t’ is ruffling a fair few feathers in the US, with its claims that the post-Napster era hasn’t been as bad for musicians (and other creators) as is often claimed. “Writers, performers, directors and even musicians report their economic fortunes to be similar to those of their counterparts 15 years ago, and in many cases they have improved.